There are projectors and then there are top-of-the-line options, like Optoma CinemaX P2, which is a great example of the domestication of the professional unit for home use. And this one isn’t a long-throw projector that’s always a challenge in way of placement.

Out of the box, this is a projector that beats most brands with its colour accuracy and sound. In fact, you need to make very few adjustments to set up this ultra-short-throw projector. Right, so most home projectors that we have seen till a couple of years ago have been the long-throw options, many of which had to be mounted on the ceiling, which is a headache. Ultra-short-throw projectors have been taking over rooms and have had #win written all over them during the pandemic. You don’t need a massive amount of space to set this up. The P2’s ultra-short-throw feature offers a 120-inch screen only inches from the wall.

Personally, I don’t have a projection screen but what I do have is a huge off-white wall in the bedroom where I had set this up for a couple of weeks. To accommodate, I simply replaced the TV with the projector on the table.

Let’s get one issue out of the way — the Rs 5 lakh price tag, which fetches you a 4K HDR laser projector that’s meant for home use. It is what it is. But the results are stunning, except for a quibble or two, which we will get to later.

Keep the projector a few inches from the wall to enjoy 120 inches or more screen size

The review unit we received was the white version with a nice cloth covering on the front to accommodate the speakers. Even though the colour may not seem ideal for Indian weather conditions but in the two weeks we didn’t have any dust-related issues as long as the mini vacuum cleaner did its task. It’s suffice to say that in way of connectivity you are sorted with three HDMI ports, two USB ports, Ethernet and a digital audio out, which I used to take sound to a different level.

Easy installation

Installation is as easy as preparing a cup of joe with instant coffee. There’s really nothing much to it except for the slight heft. A little twist here and a turn of the height-adjustment knobs shouldn’t take more than 10-15 minutes. To make life easy, install the SmartFIT app and adjust ALR screen, and take a photo. About the weight, it’s of course not light but the projector can be easily moved from one room to another.

The projector runs a dumbed-down version of Android, using the native Aptoide operating system. One complain has to do with the OS, which is on the slower side and the apps are quite basic. Having said that, if you have, you’ll be better served while using one of the HDMI slots for a streaming media device, be it a FireTV Stick or an Apple TV 4K. Use either of them and the entire experience changes. The remote control is sturdy and has basic features, so as to not confuse users.

True to life colours

What matters is the visual department. Optoma projectors have built up a reputation to be the closest competitor to the absolute top-end machines available, that is, something like Rs 8-9 lakh. The colour science is amazing.

DLP projectors tend to be partial towards red tones but the engineers at Optoma score a flurry of boundaries to make skin tones appear accurate to the point that Wes Anderson wouldn’t have too much to complain about this machine. And this has been achieved without sacrificing the overall picture quality.

The P2 displays 3,000 ANSI lumens of brightness and offers 2,000,000 is to one contrast. The overall colour balance is as good as on my usual QLED TV, thanks to the RGBRGB colour wheel. Cinema mode looks the best and it doesn’t kill too much brightness to achieve colour accuracy. The contrast is noticeable and there is noticeably better black levels compared to most brands. Coming to HDR content, it looks fantastic on the P2. It’s always a challenge for a projector to produce great HDR images, so all of them have a different way of tone mapping but that said, I like the way HDR looks here. The colours are nicely saturated and it maintains a great deal of brightness. While watching a movie like Gravity, I enjoyed every bit since the P2 projects dark scenes very well… better than what’s offered in the home theatre space. A quick word about upscaling: Be it 720p sports content or 1080p Blu-ray content, zero issues were noticed.

There is a Game mode that reduces latency, heightening the gaming experience but I won’t be able to tell you about its performance with something like PlayStation 5 as my review unit has gone back while my personal unit won’t be delivered for a few weeks.

Though I did hook up to a sound source for a while but for most rooms, the in-built speakers on the P2 deliver thumping cinema-quality audio. Equally important are the fans cooling the machine; even in a quiet room, I didn’t hear fans flare up.

Should you buy it?

There are a few models from LG, Samsung and BenQ that compete with Optoma. Most would be happy driving a BMW X1 instead of a BMW X7. The same goes for this machine. The P2 gets all the basics right, especially colour science. The laser technology here delivers up to 30,000 hours of light source life, which means it’s going to work for a very long time. Optoma CinemaX P2 projects gloriously-engaging images, accompanied by booming audio.

At a glance

Device: Optoma CinemaX P2

Price: Rs 499,999

High notes

• Top-quality colour reproduction

• Fits every room size

• Excellent HDR performance

• Immersive audio

Muffled notes

• Aptoide OS is limited

• Cost can be a deterrent